DEAR ABBY: Before we had children, my stepmother dropped many “hints” encouraging us to have kids, and promised multiple times that she would retire when we did to help out with them. We now have a 6-year-old and an 18-month-old. When we ask my father and stepmother to babysit or watch the kids, they say, “We’d love to, but now is not convenient.”
They live seven minutes away, but have never offered to babysit. They watch the kids maybe once out of 20 times that we ask. They do drop by to see us as a family when it’s convenient for them, and my children adore them. Whenever they drop by, we stop whatever we’re doing to spend time with them because those relationships are important for us and our children.
